User input apparatus comprising a plurality of touch sensors, and method of controlling digital device by sensing user touch from the apparatus

ABSTRACT

A user input apparatus having a plurality of touch sensors is provided. The apparatus includes: a plurality of touch sensors, each of which detects the user&#39;s touch and generates touch a sensing signal; a state control unit determining an activated or deactivated state for each of the touch sensors according to an operation mode of the digital device; an optical signal generation unit generating an optical signal that displays the activated or deactivated state of each of the touch sensors; and a touch sensing signal receiving unit receiving the touch sensing signal, the touch sensing signal being generated from a touch sensor in the activated state.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a user input apparatus including aplurality of touch sensors, and more particularly, to an apparatus andmethod for selectively activating each of the touch sensors according toan operation mode and displaying an activated state to a user.

BACKGROUND ART

Recently, due to remarkable development of electronic engineeringtechnology, various types of user input apparatuses are released in themarket. Conventionally, a mechanical sensor has been generally usedwhich detects a physical motion arising when a user presses a pushbutton at a certain level of force. Recently, however, a touch sensor isbecoming widely used which is capable of sensing a user's touch on asurface thereof even when the force is not applied. The touch sensor hassuperior mechanical durability and low manufacturing costs.Particularly, the touch sensor is attracting attention in that it issuitable for portable devices having highly-integrated components sincea size of the touch sensor is smaller than the mechanical sensor.

In the mechanical sensor, buttons are configured to be protruding, andthereby distinction between the buttons is easy. Conversely, in a normalconfiguration of the touch sensor, a single panel is provided to form atop cover of plural touch sensors for protecting the sensors or forproviding beautiful exterior, and thus distinction between the pluraltouch sensors may not be easy.

In order to distinguish neighboring touch sensors and to display afunction of each touch sensor, a number, a character or a markdisplaying the function of each touch sensor is carved or printed on asurface of each touch sensor or on a panel that covers the touchsensors.

FIG. 1 is a top view illustrating a conventional user input apparatushaving a plurality of touch sensors which are located side by side. Onthe surface of each touch sensor, a mark displaying the function of eachsensor is silkscreen-printed.

Specifically, FIG. 1 shows a panel 100 and five touch sensors locatedside by side beneath the panel 100. A mark 120 which is printed on thecenter of a touch area 110 of each sensor displays a function of eachsensor to guide a user with a point to touch.

FIG. 2 shows another configuration where a backlighting function isadded to the user input apparatus of FIG. 1. In this configuration, fivetouch sensors are located side by side beneath a panel 200, and a mark220 is printed on the center of a touch area 210 of each sensor, in thelike manner as shown in FIG. 1. However, in FIG. 2, the mark 220 istransparently silkscreen-printed to allow a light to transmittherethrough, and thus the light emitted from a backlight helps todisplay the mark 220 more clearly than the mark 120.

Particularly, in the user input apparatus in FIG. 2, the backlight islit only when the touch sensors are activated in input standby mode,more accurately guiding the user when to apply an input. Cases when thetouch sensors are activated are as follows: when a cover covering thetouch sensors is open, when an application operated when the touchsensors are deactivated ends, or when the user input apparatus isinitialized at a power-on.

Currently, the user input apparatus is required to support a complexinterface for manipulating digital devices on a plurality of operationmodes since the digital devices are acquiring more functions due todevelopment of the information technology.

As an example, in a mobile communication terminal having a function ofplaying music, a part of the plurality of touch sensors may be used fora basic function, such as menu selection or terminal manipulation fortelecommunication, while another part of the touch sensors may be usedfor the music play function.

In this instance, when the digital device is operated in a specificoperation mode and when back-lights are simultaneously lightened,including unnecessary touch sensors that may not be used in the specificoperation mode, it may cause confusion to the user by giving a messagethat unused touch sensors are also activated to receive the user'sinput.

This is more problematic as the functions of the digital devices becomecomplex and various functions are integrated into a single digitaldevice. That is, since the user input apparatus includes more touchsensors to process the various functions, a need for a new intuitiveinterface is increasing which is capable of visually hiding the touchsensors not in use in a specific operation mode.

Accordingly, in order to solve the above-described problems, a newmethod, which selectively displays an active/deactivated state of eachof the plurality of touch sensors according to an operation mode ofdigital devices, will be provided in the specification of the presentinvention.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION Technical Goals

The present invention provides a user input apparatus having anintuitive interface capable of controlling a digital device beingoperated in various operation modes.

The present invention also provides a user input apparatus which canprevent a user's confusion that can occur when the operation modeswitches by selectively generating an optical signal for a touch sensorused in a specific operation mode and thus preventing unnecessary userinput attempts via a touch sensor not being used in that operation mode.

The present invention also provides a user input apparatus whichimproves user's convenience for manipulation since a touch sensor not inuse in a specific operation mode is appropriately hid from a user'sview, and minimizes a user's aversion to a complex user interface.

The present invention also provides a user input apparatus whichincludes a plurality of touch sensors, and a plurality of light emittingdiodes (LED) selectively emitting a light with respect to a touch sensorin an activated state, where each LED is located beneath each of aplurality of touch sensors.

Technical Solutions

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided auser input apparatus of controlling a digital device by sensing a user'stouch, including: a plurality of touch sensors, each of which detectsthe user's touch and generates a touch sensing signal; a state controlunit determining an activated or deactivated state for each of the touchsensors according to an operation mode of the digital device; an opticalsignal generation unit generating an optical signal that displays theactivated or deactivated state of each of the touch sensors; and a touchsensing signal receiving unit receiving the touch sensing signal, thetouch sensing signal being generated from a touch sensor in theactivated state.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method of controlling a digital device using a plurality of touchsensors that detect a user's touch, including: determining an operationmode of the digital device based on a user's input; selecting at leastone touch sensor among the plurality of touch sensors according to thedetermined operation mode; selectively generating an optical signal withrespect to the selected touch sensor to display an activated state ofthe selected touch sensor; applying a sensor driving signal selectivelyto the selected touch sensor; and receiving a touch sensing signal fromthe selected touch sensor, and generating a control signal for thedigital device based on the received touch sensing signal.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method of receiving a user's input via a plurality of touch sensorsinstalled in a digital device, including: selecting at least one touchsensor among the plurality of touch sensors according to an operationmode of the digital device; selectively emitting a light with respect tothe selected touch sensor; and applying a sensor driving signalselectively to the selected sensor.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method of receiving a user's input via a plurality of touch sensorsinstalled in a digital device, including: selecting at least one touchsensor among the plurality of touch sensors according to an operationmode of the digital device; selectively emitting a light with respect tothe selected touch sensor; and blocking touch sensing signals generatedfrom touch sensors other than the selected touch sensor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top view illustrating a conventional user input apparatuswhich includes a plurality of touch sensors;

FIG. 2 is a top view illustrating a conventional user input apparatushaving a backlight function added;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a portable device according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a user input apparatus, in which anactivated mode of each touch sensor is selectively displayed, accordingto an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a user input apparatus, andconnections between configuration elements;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating selective applying of a touchsensor driving signal according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating selective receiving of touchsensing signals according to another embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling a digitaldevice according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method of receiving a user's inputaccording to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a method of receiving a user's inputaccording to another embodiment of the present invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, a configuration of a user input apparatus and a method ofcontrolling a digital device using received input from the inputapparatus according to the present invention will be described in detailby referring to the accompanied drawings.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a portable device having a user inputapparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Thepresent invention may be applicable to a portable device 310 which isprovided with a touch panel 311 having a plurality of touch sensors asillustrated in FIG. 3. As an example of the portable device 310, amobile communication terminal having a music play function isillustrated in FIG. 3. As described above, touch sensors are adopted formore portable devices due to its advantages in mechanical durability,component integration and costs.

The term “portable device” used throughout this specification denotes asmall-sized digital device having portability, and may include mobilecommunication devices, such as a personal digital cellular (PDC) phone,a personal communication service (PCS) phone, a personal hand phonesystem (PHS) phone, a code division multiple access (CDMA)-2000 (1×, 3×)phone, a wideband CDMA (WCDMA) phone, a dual band/dual mode phone, aglobal standard for mobile communications (GSM) phone, a mobilebroadband system (MBS) phone, a digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB)terminal, a smart phone, an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing(OFDM) terminal, and an orthogonal frequency division multiple access(OFDMA) terminal.

Further, the term “portable device” used in this specification may alsoinclude all types of computing apparatuses of a general or a specificuse, such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), a hand-held PC, anotebook computer, a laptop computer, an MP3 player, and an MD player.This means that the term is broadly interpreted as a terminal where amicroprocessor capable of performing certain calculations is employed.

Referring back to FIG. 3, the present invention may be applicable to aremote controller 320, which is used to control various types ofelectronic home appliances. Similar to the portable device, theelectronic home appliances are embodying more functions in comparison tothe past, and thus the remote controller 320 tends to have more buttonsthan before. However, since only a part of all buttons are used in aspecific operation mode, there is a need to inform a user which buttonsare deactivated and not in use upon entering that operation mode.Accordingly, the present invention may also be applicable to a userinput apparatus which consists of mechanical buttons such as pushbuttons.

The term “touch button” used in the specification may indicate varioustypes of sensors such as an electrical sensor, a mechanical sensor, andan optical sensor. The electrical sensor detects a user's touch usingchanges of electrical characteristics such as capacitance, inductance,and resistance. The mechanical sensor detects a pressure or a physicalmotion applied on the surface by a user, while the optical sensordetects a user's touch through changes in optical characteristics suchas a refractivated index and a reflection index.

FIG. 4 illustrates a user input apparatus according to an embodiment ofthe present invention, showing a top view on the touch panel 311 of theportable device 310 of FIG. 3 which is altered according to itsoperation modes.

The portable device 310 operates in two different modes, i.e., a basicmode and a music play mode. The user input apparatus of FIG. 4 includesa basic touch sensor group 401 having four touch sensors being used inthe basic mode and an additional touch sensor group 402 having threetouch sensors being additionally used in the music play mode.

Further, the user input apparatus operates in an input blocking modewhen it is locked using a hold key, when an application that does notrequire a user's manipulation is operating, or during an initializationprocess where a user's input should be blocked.

The view 410 shows the touch panel 311 in an input blocking mode. Asillustrated in FIG. 4, in the input blocking mode, all sensors aredeactivated, and the user input apparatus may not detect a user's toucheven when the user touches a surface of the touch sensors.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, in each of thetouch sensors, marks and characters are negatively silkscreen-printed toallow a light being emitted from a light emitting member located beneaththe touch sensors to transmit through the transparently formed marks andcharacters. In this instance, the surface, where the marks andcharacters are transparently printed, may be a surface of the touchsensors, and more generally, may be a surface of the touch panel 311which covers a top of the touch sensors. The silkscreen-printing is notrequired to be completely transparent, as long as a certain level oftransparency is provided in which a case where a light is being emittedfrom the light emitting member and a case where the light is not beingemitted are distinguishable.

As illustrated in a view 410 of FIG. 4, the light emitting member doesnot emit a light with respect to the entire touch sensors when in theinput blocking mode. Through this, a user can recognize that all of thetouch sensors are deactivated and the portable device is in a state thatdoes not allow its manipulation.

Also, a view 420 shows that a light is selectively emitted from beneaththe basic sensor group 401 in the basic mode, by the light emittingmember. In the basic mode, the basic sensor group 401 comprising fourbuttons of “call”, “cancel”, “menu” and “ok” for basic functions relatedto mobile communication and menu manipulation is exclusively activated.Accordingly, the user may recognize that only the touch sensorscorresponding to the four buttons are allowed to be manipulated.

The next view 430 shows that a light is emitted also from beneath theadditional sensor group 402 as well as the basic sensor group 401 in themusic play mode. In this operation mode, buttons for play, pause andsearch for music are activated as well as the buttons for the basicfunction. Accordingly, the light emitting member additionally emits alight with respect to touch sensors corresponding to buttons of“rewind”, “play or pause” and “fast forward”. Accordingly, the user isable to recognize that the portable device 310 is operating in the musicplay mode, and that the touch sensors included in the additional sensorgroup 402 as well as those in the basic sensor group 401 are allowed tobe manipulated.

As described above, the user input apparatus according to the presentinvention selectively activates a part of a plurality of touch sensorsaccording to an operation mode of the digital device, and selectivelyemits a light with respect to touch sensors in an activated state andbeing capable of sensing a user's touch. In this manner, the user inputapparatus transmits information about touch sensors allowed to bemanipulated by a user. Accordingly, in order to manipulate the digitaldevice having a plurality of operation modes, the user is not requiredto remember which buttons or touch sensors can be manipulated in eachoperation mode. Therefore, user's aversion with respect to a complexuser interface can be reduced since the complex user interface can besimplified in each operation mode, and faster manipulation of the userinput apparatus can be achieved.

When a plurality of touch sensors are covered on their top using asingle panel, and the transparency of a background portion of the touchpanel and that of the portion where silkscreen-printed marks arecontrolled appropriately, touch sensors in a deactivated state may bevisually hid from the user's view. Further, by arranging touch sensorsmanipulated in each operation mode such that they are not located tooadjacent to each other, a limited size of the panel can be effectivelyutilized.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration andconnections between the components of the user input apparatus inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, a plurality of touch sensors 520 are arrangebeneath a panel 510, and light emitting diodes (LEDs) 530 are locatedbeneath the touch sensors 520. For convenience of description, the touchsensors 520 and LEDs 530 are illustrated to be arranged in a single linein FIG. 5. However, the present invention is not limited to such aconfiguration. As previously illustrated in FIG. 4, the touch sensors520 and LEDs 530 may be arbitrarily arranged depending on a type ofdigital devices.

Also, while the LEDs 530 located beneath of the touch sensors 520 aretaken as an example of the light emitting member emitting a light withrespect to each of the touch sensors 520 in FIG. 5, the presentinvention is not limited to this configuration. That is, the lightemitting member may be located adjacent to the touch sensors 520 in anydirection such as in its top side or back side, or by the side of thetouch sensors 520. Further, the light emitting member may be constructedwith various types of light sources which selectively emit a light withrespect to each of the touch sensors 520, thereby visuallydistinguishing a specific touch sensor 520 from other touch sensors 520.

In this instance, the expression that the light emitting member islocated adjacent to the plurality of touch sensors 520 denotes that itis located within a distance close enough to distinguish a specifictouch sensor 520 from other touch sensors 520 when the light emittingmember emits the light with respect to that specific touch sensor.

Accordingly, the term “adjacent” may indicate a range defined by anabsolute threshold distance, while it can be also interpreted as a rangedefined by a relative distance from a specific touch sensor 520 withrespect to that for other touch sensors 520. As illustrated in FIG. 5,in a case that the light emitting member includes the LEDs 530 locatedbeneath each of the touch sensors 520, each LED 530 may be located at acloser distance from a touch sensor 520 associated with that LED 530than from other touch sensors 520.

A state control unit 580 determines an activated/deactivated state foreach of the touch sensors 520 according to an operation mode of thedigital device. That is, the state control unit 580 selects which touchsensors 520 to activate and which touch sensors 520 to deactivateaccording to the operation modes of the digital device.

A selection result of the state control unit 580 is transmitted to atouch sensor driving unit 550, a touch sensing signal receiving unit560, and an LED driving unit 570.

The LED driving unit 570 transmits a driving signal to each of the LEDs530 via an LED control bus 531, and the LEDs 530 that receive thedriving signal emits a light. In an embodiment of the present invention,the LED driving unit 570 supplies constant current to LEDs 530 locatedbeneath touch sensors 520 that are activated, while not supplyingcurrent to LEDs 530 located beneath touch sensors 520 that aredeactivated, displaying activated or deactivated state of the each ofthe touch sensors 520 accordingly.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the LEDdriving unit 570 supplies LEDs 530 located beneath touch sensors 520 inan activated state with a specific level of current, and supplies LEDs530 located beneath touch sensors 520 in a deactivated state withanother level of current which is different from said specific level. Inthis manner, each of the LEDs 530 can emit a light in different colorsand/or at different brightness depending on the activated/deactivatedstate.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, a pluralnumber of LEDs 530 are located beneath each of the touch sensors 520. Inthis configuration, the LED driving unit 570 decides whether to supplycurrent to all or part of the LEDs 530 beneath each touch sensor 520depending on the activated/deactivated state of the touch sensor 520.Accordingly, touch sensors 520 in the activated state can be visuallydistinguished from those in the deactivated state.

Meanwhile, the configuration of FIG. 5 including the LED driving unit570 and a plurality of LEDs 530 can be replaced with a similarconfiguration that performs a virtually identical function. Naming thisfunctional block that visually displays the activated/deactivated stateof each of the touch sensors 520 to a user an optical signal generationunit, the optical signal generation unit may selectively emit a lightonly with respect to touch sensors 520 in the activated state, or may beconfigured to generate different types of optical signals with respectto touch sensors in the activated state and those in the deactivatedstate. Aforementioned different types of optical signals may indicatelights emitted in different colors or at different brightness, orvarious types of light combinations, such as a continuously emittinglight and a blinking light, a blinking light and a turned-off light, anda light emitting with respect to entire surface of the touch sensors 520and a light emitting with respect to an edge portion of the touchsensors 520.

Referring back to FIG. 5, the touch sensor driving unit 550 is connectedto each of the touch sensors 520 via a sensor control bus 521. The touchsensor driving unit 550 may be included in the configuration of thepresent invention when the touch sensors 520 require driving signals todetect a user's touch. However, when an additional driving signal is notrequired to detect a user's touch, for example, when an output port ofthe touch sensors 520 is connected to a pull-up or pull-down resistance,and when a key scan logic periodically scans states of the output portof the touch sensors 520, the touch sensor driving unit 550 may beomitted in the configuration of FIG. 5.

The touch sensing signal receiving unit 560 is connected to the touchsensors 520 via a sensor signal receiving bus 522, and receives touchsensing signals which are generated or changed by a user's touch.According to an embodiment of the present invention, the touch sensingsignal receiving unit 560 may be configured to block the touch sensingsignals transmitted from touch sensors in the deactivated state, whichwill be described in detail later.

A control signal generation unit 590 generates a control signal tocontrol a digital device based on the touch sensing signals received inthe touch sensing signal receiving unit 560. Even when identical touchsensing signal is received from an identical touch sensor 520, there maybe needed to generate a different control signal depending on theoperation mode. Therefore, the control signal generation unit 590generates the control signal by referring to information about theoperation mode of the digital device.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, when the touchsensing signal receiving unit 560 detects a user's touch from a specifictouch sensor 520, the LED driving unit 570 emits a light which isdifferent from that of a normal condition by using an LED 530 locatedbeneath the specific touch sensor 520, thereby giving the user afeedback for the user's touch.

Specifically, the LED driving unit 570 may control an LED 530 locatedbeneath a touch sensor 520 in an activated state to continuously emit alight in a normal condition, and control it to blink for a preset numberof times when the user's touch is detected at the specific touch sensor520. In this configuration, the user may be informed that the his/hertouch has been correctly detected.

This additional feature of the present embodiment helps to solve aproblem that most touch sensors have, i.e., nonexistence of a tactileand/or audio feedback which is generally provided by mechanical buttonsby providing a visual feedback.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the touch sensingsignal receiving unit 560 and the LED driving unit 570 may be integratedinto a single IC chip. Also, when the touch sensor driving unit 550 isincluded in the configuration, the touch sensor driving unit 550 alsomay be integrated in a single chip, along with the touch sensing signalreceiving unit 560 and the LED driving unit 570. As described above, asingle chip type solution capable of integrally controlling the touchsensors 520 and the LEDs 530 may be provided by integrating togetherrelated elements. Further, by providing core elements in a single chiptype solution, the user input apparatus according to the presentinvention may be miniaturized and highly-integrated and, in turn, thedigital device incorporating the user input apparatus may also beminiaturized.

FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate two different embodiments of the presentinvention. For both of the embodiments described with reference to FIGS.6 and 7, an LED driving unit 570 supplies driving signals only to LEDs611 and 613 located beneath touch sensors 601 and 603 in the activatedstate, while not supplying a driving signal to an LED 612 locatedbeneath a touch sensor 602 in the deactivated state. However, the LEDdriving unit 570 may control LEDs 611, 612 and 613 in various kinds ofmanner, such as determining whether to supply driving signal to each ofthe LEDs 611, 612, and 613 according to the activated/deactivated stateof each of the touch sensors 601, 602, and 603, or controlling a periodof driving signal supply or a driving signal level. Through such avariety of control manners, LED driving unit 570 may visually displayactivation state of each of the touch sensors 601, 602, and 603 to theuser.

Also, in the embodiments described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7, theuser's touch is restrictedly detected by the touch sensors 601 and 603which are in the activated state for providing a user input convenience.The two embodiments are different in their specific implementation.

In the embodiment of FIG. 6, the touch sensor driving unit 550 transmitsdriving signals selectively to the touch sensors 601 and 603 which arein the activated state via paths 551 and 553, and the touch sensingsignal receiving unit 560 receives touch sensing signals from all touchsensors 601, 602 and 603, via paths 561, 562 and 563 connecting to eachof the touch sensors 601, 602 and 603.

The above-described configuration is applicable to the touch sensors601, 602 and 603 which require driving signals in order to detect auser's touch. Since the driving signal is not supplied to the touchsensor 602 which is in the deactivated state, the touch sensing signalis not generated therefrom or a level of the touch sensing signal is notchanged even when the user's touch has been applied.

Different from this, FIG. 7 illustrates obtaining the same effect bycontrolling the touch sensing signal receiving unit 560 to selectivelyreceive touch sensing signals from the touch sensors 601 and 603 in theactivated state.

Referring to FIG. 7, the touch sensor driving unit 550 transmits drivingsignals to all touch sensors 601, 602 and 603, while the touch sensingsignal receiving unit 560 blocks the touch sensing signal transmittedfrom the touch sensor 602 which is in the deactivated state. In thismanner, the user's touch is selectively detected via the touch sensors601 and 603 in the activated state.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, the touch sensing signal receiving unit 560opens a switch on the path 562 connecting to the touch sensor 602 in thedeactivated state to block a touch sensing signal transmitted from thetouch sensor 602 in the deactivated state. A pull-up or pull-downresistor which is connected to each input port of the touch sensingsignal receiving unit 560 to prevent the touch sensing signal from beingfloated with an undetermined level when the switch is open is omitted tosimplify the drawings.

In addition to the method of blocking the touch sensing signal opening aswitch, a method of simply ignoring the touch sensing signal transmittedfrom the touch sensor 602 in the deactivated state may be applied. Thismethod is implemented using an embedded logic of the touch sensingsignal receiving unit 560.

For reference, the embodiment described with reference to FIG. 7 may beapplied to the above-mentioned case where the touch sensor driving unit550 is not required, when the procedure of transmitting driving signalsperformed by the touch sensor driving unit 550 can be skipped.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling a digitaldevice using the user input apparatus described so far.

In operation S810, an operation mode of the digital device isdetermined. The operation mode may be changed, e.g., when mechanicaloperations are performed, such as when a user opens a cover covering aplurality of touch sensors or flips open or unfolds a filp-type or afolder type device, or when a user moves a slide of the digital device,when a user switches the operation mode via menu manipulation, when anapplication converting the operation mode in a predetermined order isperformed, and the like.

Once the operation mode is determined in operation 5810, touch sensorsare selected from the plurality of touch sensors according to thedetermined operation mode. Different touch sensors may be selected indifferent operation modes in operation 5820.

Optical signals are selectively generated with respect to the selectedtouch sensors in operation 5830, and driving signals are generated andsupplied to the selected touch sensors in operation S840. In thismanner, activated/deactivated states of the touch sensors which areselectively used according to an operation mode are individuallyvisualized and driving signals are transmitted only to those touchsensors, thereby effectively activating a part of entire touch sensorsused in that operation mode.

In operation 5840, only a case where driving signals are supplied to theselected touch sensors is illustrated in FIG. 8. However, in anotherembodiment, a different scheme that blocks touch sensing signalstransmitted from non-selected touch sensors may be applied.

In operation 5850, the touch sensing signal is received from theselected touch sensor of operation S820, and thereby a user's touch onthe touch sensor in the activated state is detected.

In operation S860, a control signal to control the digital device isgenerated based on the received touch sensing signal.

In the method of controlling the digital device according to the presentinvention, different sets of touch sensors are used depending on theoperation modes by means of the above-described operations, effectivelydelivering information about the selected touch sensors to the user.

FIGS. 9 and 10 are flowcharts illustrating a method of receiving auser's input according to embodiments of the present invention.Information about user input is received in response to the user's touchand used to control a digital device. The digital device is operated invarious operation modes, and different sets of touch sensors may be usedfor the user input depending on the operation modes.

According to the embodiment described with reference to FIG. 9, a partof the plurality of touch sensors, i.e., at least one touch sensor isselected depending on the operation mode of the digital device (S910).The selected touch sensor is a sensor used for receiving user input inthe corresponding operation mode.

In operation S920, a light is selectively emitted with respect to theselected touch sensor, thereby indicating that input is available withthe selected touch sensor. Reporting such an information on the selectedtouch sensor may be implemented in the form of continuously emitting alight, blinking a light, or emitting lights in different colors and/orat different brightness with respect to a selected and a non-selectedtouch sensor.

In operation 5930, a driving signal is selectively generated andsupplied to the selected touch sensor, thereby allowing the user inputto be received only via the touch sensor selected in a correspondingoperation mode.

However, in the embodiment described with reference to FIG. 10, userinput is selectively received from a part of the plurality of touchsensors in a different manner from that of the embodiment of FIG. 9.

Operations S1010 and S1020 of FIG. 10 respectively correspond tooperations S910 and S920 of FIG. 9.

In operation S1010, at least one touch sensor is selected from aplurality of touch sensors. A light is selectively emitted with respectto the selected at least one touch sensor, which is selected inoperation S1020. In operation S1030, a touch sensing signal, which isgenerated from remaining sensors except the selected at least one touchsensor, is blocked, and thus a user's input is restrictedly received viathe selected at least one touch sensor.

As an example of the blocking of the touch sensing signal generated fromthe rest of the touch sensors except the selected one, a switch on apath that connects to a corresponding touch sensor may be open, or atouch sensing signal received from the corresponding touch sensor may beignored using a logic embedded in the touch sensing signal receivingunit.

Heretofore, the method of receiving a user's input and the method ofcontrolling a digital device according to the present invention aredescribed by referring to FIGS. 8 through 10. Details of the user inputapparatus described with reference to FIGS. 3 through 7 are applicableto the embodiments in FIGS. 8 through 10, thus more detailed descriptionwill be skipped here.

For the reference, operations in FIGS. 8 through 10 are not necessarilydescribed in their performing orders. For example, operations S830 and5840 of FIG. 8, operations 5920 and S930 of FIG. 9, and operations S1020and S1030 of FIG. 10 may be performed simultaneously or in inverseorder.

The method of receiving a user's input and the method of controlling adigital device according to the above-described embodiments of thepresent invention may be recorded in computer-readable media includingprogram instructions to implement various operations embodied by acomputer. The media may also include, alone or in combination with theprogram instructions, data files, data structures, and the like.Examples of computer-readable media include magnetic media such as harddisks, floppy disks and magnetic tapes; optical media such as CD ROMdisks and DVDs; magneto-optical media such as optical disks; andhardware devices that are specially designed to store and executeprogram instructions, such as read-only memory (ROM), random accessmemory (RAM), flash memory, and the like.

The media may also be a transmission media such as optical or metalliclines, wave guides, and the like, delivering therethrough a carrier wavetransmitting signals specifying the program instructions, datastructures, and the like. Examples of program instructions include bothmachine codes, such as produced by a compiler, and files containinghigher level codes that may be executed by the computer using aninterpreter. The described hardware devices may be configured to act asone or more software modules in order to perform the operations of theabove-described embodiments of the present invention.

Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown anddescribed, the present invention is not limited to the describedembodiments.

Instead, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art thatchanges may be made to these embodiments without departing from theprinciples and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined bythe claims and their equivalents.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

According to the invention, it is possible to provide a user with a moreintuitive user interface which can control a digital device beingoperated in various operation modes.

Further, the present invention prevents a user's unnecessary inputattempts by selectively generating optical signals with respect to touchsensors used in a specific operation mode. Accordingly, it is possibleto prevent a user's confusion that may occur when the operation modeswitches, and to enable a faster input.

Further, according to the present invention it is possible to provide auser input apparatus capable of improving a user's convenience formanipulation since touch sensors that are not in use in a specificoperation mode are appropriately hid from a user's view, minimizing auser's aversion to a complex user interface.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to improveeffectiveness in sensing a user's touch from the touch sensors in anactivated state by selectively applying touch sensor driving signals totouch sensors in an activated state, or blocking touch sensing signalsfrom touch sensors in a deactivated state.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible toeffectively provide a visual feedback for the user's touch since, whenthe user's touch is detected at a specific touch sensor which is in theactivated state, a different type of optical signal is generated withrespect to that touch sensor.

1. A user input apparatus of controlling a digital device by sensing auser's touch, comprising: a plurality of touch sensors, each of whichdetects the user s touch and 5 generates a touch sensing signal; a statecontrol unit determining an activated or deactivated state for each ofthe touch sensors according to an operation mode of the digital device;an optical signal generation unit generating an optical signal thatdisplays the activated or deactivated state of each of the touchsensors; and a touch sensing signal receiving unit receiving the touchsensing signal, the touch sensing signal being generated from a touchsensor in the activated state.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein eachtouch sensor comprises: a touch electrode whose electricalcharacteristics change upon the user's touch thereon; and a signalgenerator generating the touch sensing signal by sensing the changes inthe electrical characteristics.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein theelectrical characteristics include at least one of a capacitance, aninductance and a resistance.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein thetouch sensors are optical sensors that detect changes in opticalcharacteristics caused by the user's touch.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the touch sensors are mechanical sensors that detect a physicalmotion caused by the user's touch.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe optical signal generation unit includes: a light emitting memberlocated adjacent to the touch sensors and selectively emitting a lightwith respect to each touch sensor, wherein the light emitting memberemits the light with respect to the touch sensor in the activated state.7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the optical signal generation unitincludes: a light emitting member located adjacent to the touch sensorsand selectively emitting a light with respect to each touch sensor,wherein the light emitting member blocks the light with respect to atouch sensor in the deactivated state.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the optical signal generation unit includes: a light emittingmember located adjacent to the touch sensors and selectively emitting alight with respect to each touch sensor, wherein the light emittingmember emits the light in different colors or at different brightnesswith respect to the touch sensor in the activated state and the touchsensor in the deactivated state.
 9. The apparatus of claim 6, whereinthe light emitting member is located beneath the touch sensors, eachtouch sensor having silkscreen-printed marks or characters on a surfacethereof.
 10. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the light emitting memberincludes: a plurality of light emitting diodes located beneath the touchsensors; and a light emitting diode driver that applies driving signalsto the light emitting diodes.
 11. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein thelight emitting member blinks the light.
 12. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the optical signal generation unit generates a second opticalsignal that displays a touch status of the touch sensor in the activatedstate when the touch sensing signal is received from the touch sensor inthe activated state.
 13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the opticalsignal generation unit includes: a light emitting member locatedadjacent to the touch sensors and selectively emitting a light withrespect to each touch sensor, wherein the light emitting member emitsthe light blinking as much as a predetermined number of times withrespect to the touch sensor in the activated state when the touchsensing signal is received from the touch sensor in the activated state.14. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a touch sensor drivingunit generating a sensor driving signal that drives the touch sensor inthe activated state.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the touchsensor driving unit periodically generates the sensor driving signal.16. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a control signalgeneration unit generating a control signal for controlling the digitaldevice based on the touch sensing signal.
 17. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the optical signal generation unit and the touch sensing signalreceiving unit are integrated into a single chip.
 18. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the digital device is a portable device.
 19. A methodof controlling a digital device using a plurality of touch sensors thatdetect a user's touch, the method comprising: determining an operationmode of the digital device based on a user's input; selecting at leastone touch sensor among the plurality of touch sensors according to thedetermined operation mode; selectively generating an optical signal withrespect to the selected touch sensor 3D to display an activated state ofthe selected touch sensor; applying a sensor driving signal selectivelyto the selected touch sensor; and receiving a touch sensing signal fromthe selected touch sensor, and generating a control signal for thedigital device based on the received touch sensing signal.
 20. Themethod of claim 19, wherein the touch sensors are electrical sensorsthat detect changes in electrical characteristics caused by a user'stouch.
 21. The method of claim 19, wherein the digital device isoperated in a plurality of operation modes, and different touch sensorsare selected for different operation modes.
 22. The method of claim 19,wherein the optical signal includes a light which is emitted by aplurality of light emitting devices located beneath the touch sensors.23. The method of claim 19, further comprising: generating a secondoptical signal with respect to a touch sensor that generates the touchsensing signal.
 24. A method of receiving a user's input via a pluralityof touch sensors installed in a digital device, the method comprising:selecting at least one touch sensor among the plurality of touch sensorsaccording to an operation mode of the digital device; selectivelyemitting a light with respect to the selected touch sensor; and applyinga sensor driving signal selectively to the selected sensor.
 25. A methodof receiving a user's input via a plurality of touch sensors installedin a digital device, the method comprising: selecting at least one touchsensor among the plurality of touch sensors according to an operationmode of the digital device; selectively emitting a light with respect tothe selected touch sensor; and blocking touch sensing signals generatedfrom touch sensors other than the selected touch sensor.
 26. Acomputer-readable storage medium storing a program for implementing themethod of claim 19.